


Umbra

by bizzylizzy



Series: Wind Over Tide Universe [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, M/M, mutual obsession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 06:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3371798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bizzylizzy/pseuds/bizzylizzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The continued yet incomplete adventures of Sasuke and his shadow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Umbra

**Author's Note:**

> I accept that I will never be comfortable or competent writing Sasuke, but I will continue to try.

“Hey now, just stopping by to say hello and how’re you doing, little pip. This is how you greet me?” The man cocks an eyebrow at Sasuke, grinning sideways with lots of teeth. “S’not a very nice way to say hello, issit?” He slurs the words together in a lazy way, pronouncing things with his own flair.

Sasuke recognizes the voice immediately. “You’re…” Sasuke stops as he doesn’t have a name for this man, and saying that he was Sasuke’s shadow would be embarrassing. He bites the tip of his tongue sharply before stumbling on. “You’re the one who was here before. Who set up the shrines.”

The man smiles. “I am indeed. Nice to know I can still leave an impression.”

“What is your name?” Sasuke demands. 

The man winks. “You can call me Kage.” Sasuke feels his face flush with shame of having his childish idea known, but Kage just chuckles, warm and rich and uplifting. He flaps his hands at Sasuke. “Go on, ask me why I’m here.”

Sasuke balks, sullen, but relents. He does want to know. “Why are you here?”

“I, Uchiha Sasuke, am the one who’s going to show you how to defeat your brother,” The man promises with his scimitar smile. Sasuke doesn’t know if the sudden rushing sensation in his body is elation, or if he’s about to be sick.  
~  
Kage comes and goes. Sometimes he is a strong presence, almost brutal in his training and so intense Sasuke’s nearly frightened of him. Other times he’s barely there, muttering to himself and he doesn’t do much but watch Sasuke and check on shrines or sleep.

Kage doesn’t _coddle_ Sasuke like his teachers do. He’s rough and violent with a cutting smile and quick eyes. Sasuke feels like, when this man throws him to the ground, that he can learn something useful from him. When Kage mocks him, Sasuke feels he is being taken seriously. To Kage, he is not an orphan child, the survivor of a tragedy. To Kage, Sasuke is an avenger to be trained.

“Why Kage?” It’s not a real name. Sasuke knows that. He’s pretty sure it’s just Kage mocking Sasuke’s childish delusions, so Sasuke mocks the name right back. Sasuke watches as the man picks at his fingernails. His hands are agile spiders today, dancing here and there, up and down. “Kage of what?”

“Whatever I want,” The man replies, utterly liquid and shifting the subject. “How old are you anyway?”

“Ten,” Sasuke admits. He’s pretty sure Kage knows this. The question is what Kage’s trying to remind him off or make him think by asking this.

Kage’s grin cuts across his face. “You know, I met your brother when he was just a drop older than you.”

“When did you meet him?” Sasuke asks, though the feeling in his gut is cold and uncomfortable. 

“Oh, ages ago. I don’t know…” Kage scratches his chin. They’re resting now, Sasuke is getting ready to head further into Konoha and back to the empty compound. He always stalls at these moments, soaking in the fading patches of sun and watching the animated play of Kage’s fingers and face. He’s _busy_ like a rodent or bird. Kage rubs a scar on his thumb, calloused fingers smooth and quick. Sasuke wishes his hands were half so quick.

Kage continues speaking. “He’d be fifteen now, so three years ago or so.” It strikes Sasuke oddly in his chest that Itachi is somewhere out there growing. Sasuke still imagines him as he was on that night, but that isn’t what Itachi looks like anymore.

Sasuke’s mouth tastes tacky with copper, and he doesn’t really want to talk about Itachi anymore.

“You’re an Uchiha, right?” Sasuke asks.

Kage snorts. “ On Susanoo’s balls, no. And don’t think I’ll tell you my family name. I do have one, but the less you know about _that_ the safer we all are, ya know?” Kage cocks his head to the side, smiling. He smiles at a lot. Kage’s emotions are quick, but shallow. It’s almost as if they aren’t real, just some elaborate act Kage puts on.

When they get _real_ , that is when Sasuke feels Kage is truly dangerous.

“But,” Sasuke insists, maybe prompts. 

Kage grins and nods. “But, I did have the Sharingan once, and that’s how your brother and I met. Your brother has them now.” They have a mutual obsession with Itachi. Itachi is Sasuke’s life purpose, and Kage is the only one who even mentions Itachi’s name anymore. It makes Sasuke euphoric and ill all at once to hear Itachi’s name said the way Kage says it. To talk to someone who seems to _know_ Itachi.

Today it’s making him more ill than anything else, and he wishes Kage would shut up about Itachi.

Sasuke stays silent, hoping Kage will pick a new topic. He’s pretty sure any eyes Itachi took from Kage would be rotted and gone by now. Kage has had his brilliant blue eyes since he showed up in the garden. Sasuke’s not sure what color they were before that.

“Hell if I know what the sick little fucker did with them,” Kage replies, and he’s grinning, shifting from side to side now as he leans toward Sasuke. “You know that scar Itachi had on his gut?” Kage cuts a line across his own stomach. Sasuke remembers the red, ropey scar that Itachi had appeared with after a long absence. The one that made him touch his stomach from time to time, a pale expression on his face.

“Yeah,” Sasuke allows. Kage’s casual, slippery way of speaking rubs off on him from time to time.

“He got that scar because of me.” Kage sounds almost _proud_ of this. “Just the slip of a knife and his guts were everywhere. Didn’t die though. Somehow. I’ll never understand why he didn’t die right there…” Kage’s voice fades away. His jaw tightens, and Sasuke stands up. He’s ready to fight, and he recognizes the tension in Kage’s jaw as what he feels in his own face some days.

Now they will stop talking about Itachi.

“You’re nothing like Itachi.”

Or not.

Sasuke knows he’s not like his brother. Everyone knows it. Knew it. “So?” Sasukes looks at his toes and all he really sees are red eyes. Red eyes and blood.

“I think you could be so much better than him,” Kage says in a breathy way, like he’s suddenly excited about something. “You could be so much _more_ than Itachi could have hoped to be. You,” Kage points at him, finger almost on Sasuke’s nose, ignoring Sasuke’s flinch. “Uchiha Sasuke, you could change the world. You _will_ change it, but first we have to deal with your brother.”

At this age, it is impossible for Sasuke to think of a life _beyond_ Itachi, but he stays silent and lets the sun soak into his back.  
~  
“How do you get in?” 

Kage looks up from wrapping Sasuke’s wrist. Once again, Sasuke’s hurt something going up against Kage, but he’s getting better. Even Kage admits it, like he expected nothing else. Sasuke’s teachers have started calling him a second prodigy, but they’re concerned about how many injuries he turns up with. Not too concerned, kids in the class are always getting banged up, but they ask questions about how he hurt himself and tell him to be more careful. 

“In where?” Kage asks. Sasuke motions to the giant trees around them, some hidden place just outside of Konoha. While Kage will venture into the compound, they never practice there. When Sasuke asked about it, Kage called it a stupid risk and said there were _eyes everywhere_ before going into a deranged fit of giggles Sasuke still hasn’t forgiven him for.

Some days, Sasuke’s certain Kage’s _mad_. Then again, some days Sasuke thinks he might be mad too. Maybe it makes them a good pair.

“Konoha. You’re not a Konoha-nin.” And this, Sasuke knows, is consorting with the enemy, but this is also to the benefit of Konoha. If the criminal Uchiha Itachi is brought down, then Konoha benefits. It’s taken Sasuke some time to rationalize this betrayal into bite sized pieces. Sometimes shinobi do dishonorable things for the greater good, working from the shadows. Besides, it will take much more than what the Academy teaches to take down Itachi, and Sasuke needs to make sure he’s the one who kills Itachi, and he has to reach that capability quickly, before someone else does it. Sasuke’s stomach turns unpleasantly at the flash of Itachi’s red-eyed face and gulps down the saliva in his mouth.

“I’m not really an anything-nin. Wasn’t born to any village or promised anything to anyone.” Kage shrugs. 

“A free agent. I know. You said that before, but how do you get _in_?” Sasuke presses. Things like this aren’t supposed to happen. Kage’s fingers are calloused and scarred and certain on Sasuke’s injured wrist.

“Magic,” Kage replies, with a wink. Sasuke knows that’s the end of the discussion. Kage clams up and doesn’t ever expound on things after he’s given that excuse. Sasuke looks at his hand. It’s swelling. He’ll have to think up a good lie for his teachers. Kage used to make up lies for him to tell, but now he seems to think Sasuke’s

“How strong was Itachi when you met him?” Sasuke asks, eyes on the hand cradled in Kage’s.

“Your brother was the strongest shinobi I had ever met. He took me apart with words, and he…” Kage stops, eyes on Sasuke’s knuckles. He is heavy. Sasuke feels the weight of that pressing him down through Kage’s hand.

“Can you beat him?” Sasuke asks.

Kage chuckles, bubbles of sound bursting from his lips. “No. No, that’s your job Sasuke. Bring down the tyrant. Break down the lies.”

Kage has never said it like that before, and that wording never quite leaves Sasuke’s mind.  
~  
“My team are all idiots,” Sasuke seethes to Kage. “They’re going to hold me back--none of them knows how to fight properly, and my jounin sensei is…” Sasuke has no words for his massive disappointment in Hatake Kakashi, the only person besides Itachi to have a Sharingan. Sasuke hopes-- _hopes_ the great copy-nin was holding back. After Kage’s swiftness and utter domination of all their fights, Kakashi’s sloppy, casual manner burns. It grates on Sasuke, that this great shinobi of Konoha either cannot compete against a no name _shadow_ like Kage, or Sasuke could only muster a luke-warm display of the man’s skills.

Sasuke throws down his pack. Kage is lying on his back, reading an old, battered book. 

“You know, I’ve met Kakashi before,” Kage says, turning a page. Sasuke realizes Kage must have been _watching._ He must have _seen_ and that’s why he’s sitting here reading a book with a naked woman on the cover.

“You have not. You just saw him this afternoon.” Sasuke retorts. Kage casts Sasuke a sideways smile for picking up the hint. Kage seems to have met everyone in Sasuke’s life over twenty. More than Kakashi, Sasuke’s frustrated with Naruto and Sakura. Sakura has good grades, so that should be okay, but she doesn’t focus. Sasuke needs to _rocket_ through the ranks. He needs to kill Itachi soon, not ten years from now. Naruto’s ignorance and Sakura’s lack of focus are undercutting that goal.

“I did. He was on the mission where your brother almost killed me,” Kage points out. He’s been ranging around the dusty old main house where Sasuke lives this week. _Damn, why do you live here with all these ghosts?_ Kage asked once. He spends an inordinate amount of time in Itachi’s room when he does make it down to the main house. When asked, Kage says it’s magic.

Sasuke’s expression remains unimpressed. “Then what’s he like.”

“Slippery and vague. Good ninja, but I could take him these days. He’s got stuff he could teach you once you get past all the boring baby bits, and he worked with your brother at least once. You can ask him about Itachi, see if he has any enlightening morsels to share,” Kage suggests, closing the book. Before he leaves the shrines will all be taken care of again, though there aren’t as many as they used to be. Kage says he’s just appeasing the really angry spirits.

“Just ask him?”

“Yeah, what’s wrong about asking about your brother? Duh, you’d be curious to know everything you can about him.” Kage rolls his eyes. “But no more sparring with me. The one eyed bastard will know if I’m beating up on you, and he probably wants to be the only one beating up on you. So, no spars.”

Sasuke frowns. He doesn’t think Kakashi’s instruction will be on the same level as what he’s getting from Kage now. Last week Sasuke came perilously close to being decapitated. “Are you going to go away again?”

Kage laughs. “Not yet, but I won’t be around as much. I’ve got other stones toasting in my fire, fledgling. I’ll be back around and through every once in a while, but better not be around too much when you’ve got a jounin sensei, in case he smells something amiss.” Kage winks and taps his nose, grinning like this is something clever.

“What do you do when you’re gone, anyway?” Sasuke demands. The relationship reminds him too much of his previous life with Itachi. Kage comes and goes as he pleases, and Sasuke sits and waits for him to return. But when Kage returns, it isn’t because his home is here, but because Sasuke is here. And that is a very warm little thought in Sasuke’s chest.

Kage smiles and taps his fingers to his lips. “Gathering information on our mutual friend. Mostly tryna figure out his partner. Hoshikage Kisame. There’s a problem if I ever saw one. Stick to Itachi like a sucker fish. Fucking horrible.” Kage’s face twists up ugly as he speaks, word becoming choppier and harder to understand. Sasuke feels his skin prickle at the sound of Itachi’s name, at the image of his brother walking around.

Sasuke swallows and they are silent for a time. Kage eventually stands up and walks off into the depths of the house. For a while, Sasuke thinks Kage’s gone again, but when Sasuke starts warming up his supper, he hears the soft pad of feet down the halls.

“Have you thought about it?” Kage asks as he peeks into the kitchen and then enters.

“About what?” Sasuke doesn’t look up from trying to make sure his supper doesn’t burn. 

“The Akatsuki and why your brother joined up with them anyway. If he killed your family as a test of his ability, why join up with them?” Kage asks as he scratches the back of his calf with a toe, balancing easily on one foot.

Sasuke would say it doesn’t matter, but he’s gotten the lecture on motivation enough times to know it’s always important to Kage. Sasuke breathes out through his nose, trying to think of this like any other of Kage’s logic puzzles. “Maybe he killed the clan to get into the Akastuki.” 

Kage makes a grunting noise that means he doesn’t agree. “But why would he want to join up with _them_? What’s he getting out of it. What’s he _doing_ there?” Kage demands, the vehemence means he doesn’t know either. Kage’s hands knot into fists and he’s staring down at the floor, jaw clenched. Sasuke watches Kage breathe, his eyes twitching and Kage’s anxiety imprints the question on Sasuke’s memory. 

“Do you want some supper?” Sasuke asks, wanting to break Kage out of his stupor.

Kage blinks at smiles. “I think I’m going to drink my supper tonight.” And with a hush of wind and an eye wrenching blur, Kage is gone.  
~  
Kage’s absences grow longer and longer until he stops showing up at all. It boils in Sasuke. He is being pushed aside. He is being abandoned. Every day there is no sign of Kage, Sasuke begins to think Itachi has finally caught up to him. He imagines Kage bleeding out like his parents. He imagines opening the door to find Itachi there, come to test what Sasuke has learned from Kage. 

Sasuke hasn’t done more than nap in weeks. He’s losing his temper eternally with his stupid teammates, and he’s lost his shadow again. It’s been two months and Kage is never coming back.

Until Sasuke comes home to the smell of food cooking. It only makes him angrier, and he slams into the kitchen.

“Take me with you next time!” Sasuke demands, voice high and brittle when he wanted it to be strong. Kage looks back. He’s got a hand wrapped in bandages, and a stitched line across his forehead. Of course, shinobi like Kage can’t go to healers for scrapes and breaks. He’s always bruised or banged up someway.

“You want to leave Konoha, gosling?” Kage asks. It’s like he can’t decide on a good nickname for Sasuke. Sasuke gets called everything from minnow to tadpole to gosling, peeper, pip--everything.

Sasuke nods. “Kakashi won’t tell me anything and my teammates are stupid. They act like this is all a game, and the village just assigns us menial labor for missions!”

Kage shrugs. “It is a game to them. They don’t have goals like you. They haven’t seen people die like you have. It’s not real to them yet. One day it will be.” Sasuke bristles. He doesn’t have time for one day.

“But by then they’ll be too far behind to be useful for you.” Kage waves a hand and dishes out food. Sasuke doesn’t recognize anything in the thick soup. “But, this is your mission, not theirs. You can’t expect other people to get excited about _your_ crusade, Sasuke.” Kage puts this twisting spin on Sasuke’s name, like he does with Itachi’s. Sasuke feels his cheeks heat as Kage watches him. Sometimes, being around Kage isn’t pleasant, but he’s _useful_.

“Which is why I need to go with you,” Sasuke insists. “They don’t get it. _You do._ ” Kage has seen Itachi’s red eyes leveled at him. He’s felt the terror of death only moments away, and better known that terror from the same source Sasuke does. He _knows_ on some visceral level what Sasuke feels when his gut goes to water and his mouth dries up.

“See, Sasuke, it’s getting harder and harder for me to get in and out without being spotted, hear? Can’t go risking me, because it means risking you, and then it’s all down the gutter, got it?” Kage’s speaking kind of oddly. He always bounces between accents, but now every words seems different. Sasuke’s not sure Kage even heard him.

“So take me with you and you won’t have to come back,” Sasuke insists, raising his voice. “You can teach me.”

“And have all of Konoha riding my ass because I took their last Uchiha?” Kage barks a laugh. There’s something wrong with him. He moves in jerks, too quickly and slops food everywhere. He doesn’t let Sasuke get any words in. “Besides, you need a team. I told you Itachi doesn’t travel alone, right? I told you he had a partner? Well, he does. Hoshikage Kisame, one of the seven swordsman. Can’t take them both on at once.

“You need a team. You have to make your crusade their crusade, got me? You want something, so it’s on you to convince them that they want it too. You need a brawler with massive chakra--that’s Naruto. You gotta figure out how to drive him to be better and better until he can take out that freaking fish Itachi’s dangling along. But then you gotta have insurance. Who’s the healer in your team? You?” Kage slaps himself down in a chair and takes three spoonfuls of soup in quick succession. Sasuke watches him warily, uncertain.

“No one’s been training to be a healer yet.” Sasuke kind of assumes Sakura will one day. Kage jerks his head back and laughs.

“Yeah, that needs to start soon. You know what’s better than one healer? Two. You and that girl who’s so in love with you should get cozy over some medical texts. Really get into studying anatomy, if you know what I mean.” Kage gives Sasuke a sharp leer. Sasuke can’t help staring at him. Kage’s expression lessens slowly, then he leans back and puts his head in his hands.

“Fuck that, I really am a pedohile. Tsukiyama’s balls.” Kage rubs his face viciously, and Sasuke stands tightly.

“What’s wrong with you?” Sasuke demands. He sits down and takes a bite of soup anyway. Now he’s thinking maybe he should go with Kage to take care of him. He doesn’t seem to be doing well. Maybe between the two of them they could take Itachi down.

Kage looks at Sasuke, and for the first time he looks old. _Old_ For a moment, Sasuke knows Kage is going to lie. The words that come out will be fake and meant to throw Sasuke off the source of the truth. Then Kage waits, then sighs and shakes his head. Something in his _gives_ and it’s worse than the giggling.

“So, I’m in love with this person right? This _guy_.” Kage says, and waits like he expects Sasuke to be shocked. Sasuke takes a bite of his soup, which taste like raw fish. He is surprised Kage has time for a lover. Also perhaps that green feeling in his chest is jealousy.

“And…” Kage pauses, breathes. “Okay, so this guy is _dying_ , got it? He’s got something sick in him, and he’s not taking care of himself, and…” Kage rubs his head. “And I feel like if I’m not on him every second then he’s going to be stupid and get himself more sick, you get it?” Sasuke is uncomfortable. Kage is...distressed. He’s everything Sasuke has been taught not to be. He’s always been a little wild, but now he’s coming apart at his corners in a _visible_ way. Sasuke doesn’t want to see him fly apart.

Kage is the only one Sasuke has left, after all.

“He got _bad_ ,” Kage continues, and he’s not really talking to Sasuke anymore. Like it’s just this _thing_ he has to say. “Like, pneumonia or something stupid like that. Pneumonia happens to _old_ people, and he’s not old. He got this _cough_ and he couldn’t fucking _breathe_ right, like some kinda fish in polluted water. And I couldn’t…” There are multiple ways to finish that. Couldn’t help, couldn’t leave, couldn’t heal him.

“You couldn’t leave, because if he’s sick he’s vulnerable.” Sasuke speaks to make Kage shut up. “Itachi knows you’re alive, right, so he could use your…” Sasuke doesn’t know what to call Kage’s...attachment. This _guy_ he evidently loves, which is bizarre and throws Sasuke’s entire world off kilter. It’s just _strange_ to consider Kage’s life outside of Sasuke and Itachi.

“Use him to get to you,” Sasuke continues. it’s like the logic puzzles Kage makes him do all the time. The scenarios and reasoning exercises he pounds into Sasuke’s head. “So while he’s sick you have to be there to protect him from Itachi.” 

Kage’s staring at Sasuke with wide eyes, mouth slightly ajar. Sasuke takes a spoonful of awful soup. There’s something in this moment Sasuke doesn’t understand. There’s something happening inside Kage that doesn’t make sense. It’s almost tangible as he swallows and seems to reorient himself to the room.

“Yeah.” The word is breathy, the next are said with irony. “I need to protect him from Itachi.”

“Is that why you said I need a team--because you can’t go after Itachi while you have someone to protect?” Sasuke asks.

Kage cocks his head, then his scimitar smile cuts across his face. He’s back, and Sasuke relaxes. “You’re getting pretty sharp, minnow. Now, how’re you going to make that team of yours smarten up?”

This is an easy question. Kage’s basically give him the answer, but he wants to know the specifics. Sasuke knows how to answer these questions. He smirks back at Kage. “I’m going to give them a goal.”

Kage cocks an eyebrow. “And how are you going to do that?”

Sasuke just leans back and copies Kage’s smirk best he can. “Magic.”  
~  
The last time Sasuke sees Kage is right before the final phase of the Chuunin exams. Sasuke has been waiting for it, certain the influx of strangers into Konoha will be too tempting a cover for Kage. Sasuke has never seen Konoha so busy, and it makes his retreat to the Uchiha compound like entering a tomb. This is a place Konoha has abandoned.

This is a place of ghosts and shadows.

“I have heard interesting things about a green genin team from Konoha, you know. I might bet on them.” Kage speaks as soon as Sasuke’s inside the main house. Sasuke looks up, eyebrows raised.

“They’re unorthodox,” Sasuke says, something people say to them a lot.

“I like it,” Kage replies glibly, smiling. Sasuke’s almost shocked by his mentor’s appearance. There’s something warm on his face Sasuke hasn’t seen there before. His joints are loose, and there’s something almost gentle about him, maybe.

“They could have been so much more if you had taught them,” Sasuke replies, trying to counter the undercurrent of _warmth_ in everything from Kage’s expression to his skin. It’s unnerving.

“But then they would have been my war machine, not yours,” Kage replies with a smile. “Kakashi was onto me. If I meddled with his whole team, I would have gotten ANBU sicced on me.”

“You already did when my brother and Kakashi were after you, remember?” Sasuke mutters as he walks through to the kitchen and sets down his bags.

“Those were very special circumstances. And I’m old now. I can’t run like I used to.” Kage replies. He’s genial. He’s happy. He isn’t really here to talk business.

“How’s your lover?” Sasuke asks as Kage steps up beside him, peering at the food in bags. Sasuke brought enough for two, and he sees Kage’s recognition of this fact in the crook of his smile.

“Oh, he’s doing much better. We agreed on some life styles changes and holistic therapies. It seems to be helping, but recently his brother got into some trouble and he relapsed a bit.” Kage shrugs likes it’s not a big deal. “So I went to check up on his brat and decided to kill two birds with one stone.” Sasuke is offended, honestly, but he tries to hide it. He can tell from Kage’s smile that he hasn’t succeeded.

“Is your lover a civilian?” Sasuke asks, crossing his arms. He can’t really imagine that, but either this person is a civilian or an inferior shinobi. Maybe he’s like Shisui, a free agent who goes and does what he wants.

“He’s not like us. He’s a gentle soul--or he was before he met me. I’ve corrupted him a bit,” Kage chuckles, smiles, has this downright dreamy look in his eyes. Sasuke continues to be disturbed. That only eggs Kage on. “One day, when you’re in love, you’ll understand.”

“Are you _high_?” Sasuke demands. 

Kage shakes his head. “I’m happy--basically the same thing, but I didn’t come here to _embarass_ you.”

Sasuke gives Kage a flat look. “I’m on a team with Naruto. You can’t embarrass me.” That’s a mistake. It’s a challenge, and Kage’s grin flashes sharp.

“Have you ever heard the sound someone makes when they’re in exquisite ecstasy, Sasuke? That sound does a lot for boosting your mood,” Kage says slyly, sleazy, and Sasuke feels his cheeks and ear flush with heat. He’s seen Naruto bounce around as a naked woman, and there’s Kakashi with his orange books, but this is _personal._

“You really are a pedophile,” Sasuke retorts. Kage laughs, and Sasuke almost swears he mutters something like ‘no, he’s eighteen now.’ 

“Is that really how you think of me, Sasuke, after all these years I have poured my heart and soul into training you?” Kage asks gently as he takes out the boxes of food. “We should eat before this gets cold.”

Sasuke allows this and begins unpacking boxes as well. He wonders what will happen if Naruto makes good on his threat and comes in through the door. “How.” Sasuke pauses, then forges on. “How do you have time for anything more than revenge?” Sasuke asks, looking over at Kage. It’s not unfathomable to think of Kage liking men, it isn’t odd at all, honestly, but what always strikes Sasuke funny about the business of Kage’s lover is that he has one of any kind.

Kage’s smile is smaller. “You’re getting better at naming things for what they are, fledgling.”

“You’ve been gone a long time,” Sasuke grunts as he sits down to eat. He picked that word precisely because it was one that would get Kage’s attention, make him a little more sober and not so flippant.

“So I see.” Kage sits down as well. “I’m glad to know you can get along without me, then. It’ll be a while again before I make it back to Konoha.” Kage’s words, Sasuke realizes, are more measured than usual. There isn’t half as much slang in them.

“...does he change you that much?” It’s the warmth and the words and the over all _difference_ in Kage that Sasuke can’t put a name on. It would be more embarrassing if it weren’t both fascinating and disturbing.

“Well, I’ve been gone a long time,” Kage mocks, but he sits back and crosses his arms. “But yeah, caring about someone changes you a stupid amount, pip.” Kage doesn’t seem overly concerned with that right now, as he digs into his food. 

“You’re done, aren’t you?” Sasuke rolls his chopsticks in his fingers. They scrape his callouses, and Kage glances up sideways.

“Well, it’s not like I’ve touch you much since Kakashi took over,” Kage admits with a shrug. “You’ll be Chuunin soon, and things will only get tougher.”

“You still have things you could teach me,” Sasuke insists, less because he wants to learn from Kage and more because he doesn’t want Kage to _leave._ Sasuke crosses his arms. “Are you giving up on…” There isn’t a word for the concept of their obsession with Itachi and revenge and everything that trails along behind like a string of bloody caltrops. Sasuke bites the inside of his cheek.

Kage sighs and shifts forward, pointing his chopsticks at Sasuke. “I always said it was going to have to be you who finished it, didn’t I, Sasuke? And I’ve got my reasons for that, be sure. I have given you all the pieces that you needs to unravel the mystery that is Uchiha Itachi,” Kage replies. “And that’s all I can do for you in the end, pip. I do have one more piece of advice for you, Sasuke.” Kage sobers. Sasuke listens. He leans forward too and there’s an intimacy to this gathering suddenly that they lacked before.

“The thing about Itachi is that it’s not enough to physically overpower him. You’ve got to beat him mentally too. You’ve got to outreason and out feel him too. What he’s got over you and me, that’s mind control. He’s got us so screwed up in our heads everything we _do_ is fucking about that bastard,” Kage shrugs slightly, belying the tight tone. His hands tighten, and Sasuke almost welcomes the intensity and bitterness. 

“His motivations,” Sasuke says. This is old ground, and he’s trying not to be disturbed by Kage’s change. Kage was _happy_ , and the second Itachi was mentioned…

“No, no, more than that. You need to know his _secrets_.” Kage flashes Sasuke a smile and twitches his head to the side. “Because that bastard is all about his gods damn secrets, and once you know _those_ you’ll beat him.”

 _Unravel the secrets. Take down the tyrant._ Those words come back. Sasuke looks at the food on the table, the last meal he’ll probably eat with his free agent mentor. Sasuke’s life is built on secrets.

“What do you know about Itachi that you’re not telling me?” Sasuke asks.

Kage smiles. “Something you will never believe unless you come to the conclusion on your own.” It isn’t a pleasant smile. Kage pokes at his food and Sasuke finds he isn’t hungry anymore.

“Oi! Sasuke!” The door slams open. Sasuke jumps as he hears Naruto thundering into the house. Kage grins and leans across the table.

“But we should really have a serious talk, you know.” Kage taps the skin on Sasuke’s neck, right where his collar hides a hideous black design. “I’ll be watching the next phase of the exams, Sasuke, show me how long it’s been.” With that, Kage’s gone. Vanished the second Naruto slams through the door, grinning and all his bruises only half healed.

“Awesome, you got food for us!” Naruto’s grin is stupid, but he doesn’t notice the bites taken out of the food as he sits down. Sakura, steps behind Naruto, does, but she doesn’t say anything about it. She just looks at Sasuke as she slaps Naruto on the back of the head for being rude and barging in. 

Sasuke, for his part, is not quite ready to share this secret with his team. Not yet. Maybe, he thinks, they can meet Kage after the Chuunin exams. Maybe that's one of the reasons Kage stopped by. Sasuke should ask when he sees Kage at the exam.

Kage is not there to watch the final phase of the exam. In fact, Sasuke and Kage never meet again.


End file.
